Broad Coalition Urges Congress to Preserve Robust Afghanistan Oversight

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Dear Chairmen Inhofe and Smith and Ranking Members Reed and Thornberry:

The undersigned organizations urge you to preserve the ability of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) to evaluate and audit spending decisions related to reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan by rejecting section 1532 in the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021 (S. 4049).

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction has been one of the most effective inspectors general in recent history, and continues to perform an essential mission as Congress assesses the administration’s plans to draw down troops in Afghanistan.¹ Its work has been pivotal in informing Congress’s debate about the war in Afghanistan, and the watchdog’s “Lessons Learned” series showed the many occasions Congress and the public were misled about government operations.² Other SIGAR investigations and audits uncovered “ghost soldiers” undermining the capacity and effectiveness of Afghan forces; instances when the U.S. was contracting with the enemy supporting insurgent troops; and counterdrug programs led and supported by the U.S. that failed to result in “lasting reductions in poppy cultivation or opium production.”³ Another report found that weaknesses in end-use monitoring of weapons under Afghan control created “a real potential for these weapons to fall into the hands of insurgents.”⁴

Congress created SIGAR due to concerns that billions of dollars were being spent with insufficient oversight to identify and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.⁵ Those concerns were well-founded. SIGAR has identified over $3.3 billion in opportunities for savings for the American taxpayer.⁶ And as we consider withdrawing our troops, the need for oversight of spending in Afghanistan only increases. Now, according to the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, our operations in that country have been “perhaps the most complex and challenging period in the last two decades.”⁷ This is the wrong time to shift primary authority of SIGAR’s work to the Department of Defense Inspector General, an office that is already overburdened as it assesses not only its regular workload but also the department’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.⁸The proposed language could also hamper SIGAR’s criminal and civil law enforcement function. SIGAR regularly uncovers criminal conspiracies and corruption, leading to millions of dollars in restitution payments.⁹

Lastly, we are concerned that the language of section 1532 would reduce the frequency of SIGAR reports provided to Congress from quarterly to semiannually. This is a time when Congress and the public need to be kept as informed as possible on the outcomes of our reconstruction and training efforts.

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction has been seminal in documenting corruption related to U.S. spending in Afghanistan. It is crucial that SIGAR continue to do its work for the American and Afghan people.